The comments quickly became the subject of a GOP campaign to blast the Obama administrations environmental policies, with Republicans arguing in a stream of media interview and statements that the EPA is unfairly targeting oil and gas companies.

[T]he Committee anticipates that it will request your presence at a hearing in the near future to examine enforcement priorities and practices of the agency, the committee Republicans wrote to Armendariz in a letter Friday.

The letter notes that the committee invited Armendariz to testify at a field hearing in Texas last year, but EPA clean air chief Gina McCarthy testified in his place.

The lawmakers suggest that they would consider subpoenaing Armendariz if he declines to testify.

As this will be our second request to have you appear before our Committee, and in light of the seriousness of the concerns that need to be addressed, the Committee is prepared to use all authorities at its disposal to ensure your attendance, the letter says.

The letter also seeks information about the agencys enforcement practices.

While you have apologized for these comments, there is genuine concern that your comments reflect the agencys overall enforcement philosophy, the letter says. The recently dismissed enforcement action against Range Resources is a concrete example of this concern. In light of this concern, we seek to examine how enforcement policies are being developed and implemented in your region.

EPA officials have insisted that Armendarizs comments do not reflect the agencys enforcement philosophy.

Armendariz apologized for the comments Thursday, shortly after Inhofe brought them up.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson called the comments disappointing Friday. But she declined to say whether the official would be fired or face any disciplinary action, saying the agency "will continue to review" the situation.

A steady stream of Republicans have called on Armendariz to resign or be fired. Seven House lawmakers pressed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to fire Armendariz in a letter Friday.

Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) introduced a House resolution later Friday calling on Armendariz to resign over the comments.

Inhofe released a 2010 video Wednesday of Armendariz comparing his enforcement philosophy to that of Roman soldiers who crucified villagers in towns they wanted to conquer. He made the comments after calling the oil-and-gas sector an "enforcement priority."

I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement. And I think it was probably a little crude, and maybe not appropriate for the meeting, but Im going to tell you what I said, Armendariz says in the video.

It is kind of like how the Romans used to conquer the villages in the Mediterranean  theyd go into a little Turkish town somewhere and theyd find the first five guys they saw and theyd crucify them. Then that town was really easy to manage for the next few years.

Armendariz continued: And so, you make examples out of people who are, in this case, not complying with the law. You find people who are not complying with the law and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them. Theres a deterrent effect there. And companies that are smart see that. They dont want to play that game and they decide at that point that its time to clean up. And that wont happen unless you have somebody out there making examples of people.

The video was removed from YouTube on Friday.

EPAs enforcement division works with the Department of Justice and other agencies to bring civil and criminal legal actions against companies accused of violating environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

“Civility”. The commie ‘RATS are always whining that they want “civility”. Then along comes one of their braindead, incompetent pinheads who says something like this. I hope Congress “crucifies” him. I hate commie pigs like this madman. They are destroying our country.

5
posted on 04/27/2012 4:23:03 PM PDT
by FlingWingFlyer
(Dumb, dependent and Democrat is no way to go through life. - Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)

Whoa, more tough questions coming from our Repubics! How long before another Repubic says "we need to make sure this never happens again"?

Like Issa and Grassly and fast and furious.

The Republicans only use these scandals to gain political points to make sure they continue to control other peoples money, live lavish privileged lifestyles, and of course maintain private tables at all DCs finest restaurants.

Hey, hold on a minute ~ this guy is just talking nasty ~ he hasn't killed anyone like those ol'boys in Fast and Furious, and we don't know about the latina hookers either (although that might or might not come out).

"Hey, hold on a minute ~ this guy is just talking nasty ~ he hasn't killed anyone like those ol'boys in Fast and Furious, and we don't know about the latina hookers either (although that might or might not come out). But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be crucified ~ "

He's done more than just talk nasty. He's shut down oil and gas companies in Texas with EPA regs and leftist thuggery. He's hurt people and their families by taking away their livelihood. He's a leftist thug. We need to get something on this punk and hand him a felony conviction, financial ruin, and permanent ban from any public sector job.

We have MUST take the gloves off with these people. Apologies are not going to cut it. They must be punished severely. We need to start making examples out of these freedom hating radicals. Trust me they don't give a crap about you or your families needs.

I wish that were true but the reality is the next stop for this Marxist creep is likely an even higher paying do nothing government job.

Just for kicks it would be an eye opener for the American people to publicize how much the taxpayers are paying this jackass. I bet it's over 150k with lifelong benefits and retirement as early as age 55.

I have a term for leftists like this. They are Non-American Citizens. Meaning they are citizens of the US but they are NOT Americans.

Harsh I know but it's the truth. It's time we realize these left wing kooks are actually hurting people.

Obama has an endless supply of these faggy university profs who want to impede the real producers in America who go out there and hump it in the private sector. In this case the oil and gas industry. These administrator types make me sick. Cass Sunnstien is their guru

You have love this wuss’s tough talk where in his mind he is a merciless Roman conqueror

62 with less than 20 years in the system, but it's not what you might call 'a full retirement' because ALL federal retirements (outside of the 401(k) style thrift savings plan) are heavily discounted.

Qualifying for the system takes only 5 years, but you only get 1% of your high three per year over your period of employment (if you retire before 62) or 1.1% if you retire at 62 or after.

This guy would probably still be well under 10% of his high 3, so even if he'd been making $186,000 per year, his retirement would be $18,600 per annum. Go here to see the cold hard facts of federal retirement: http://www.opm.gov/retire/pre/fers/computation.asp#hi3

A "failed crucifixion" that left him alive but badly maimed would qualify him for a disability retirement ~ something most folks would prefer not having if they could avoid it.

I"d expect him to object strenuously to not getting the full treatment.

It's well documented the average federal worker is making over twice that of a private sector comparable job. It's also well known of the "Padding" of the salary in key years to drive up retirement payout, unpaid vacation, and all sorts of other tricks which amount to nothing more than scamming the taxpayers.

I'm not sure where you are getting a federal worker who makes 186k would only get 18k per year. That's just nonsense. These guys are soaking the taxpayers at an unbelievable rate.

Try to "qualify" for retirement in the private sector and guess what? You can't qualify for something that does not exist. We in the private sector have to PAY FOR OUR OWN RETIREMENT and pay for all those in government.

I know someone in a typical federal government job. He is making over 200k and will retire soon with a pension greater than most people make while they are working. He is not yet 50 years old!

No, it is not well documented that the average federal worker is making twice or more than a private sector comparable job.

And you know that from reading the articles and discussions about them right here on FreeRepublic.

The claim was that private sector workers, on average, made half or less than the average federal employee ~ and that didn't include the military or postal workers in the mix.

Turns out that your average lawyer makes more in private practice than does the average government lawyer (just for example), and it's the same for physicians, research chemists, and so forth.

Plus, the federal government has only 1 CEO while the private sector has 7 million CEOs, and none of those salaries were included in the computations.

The result was you ended up comparing department store sales clerks against military analysts ~ which is just crazy talk.

But let's go further, federal workers don't get to pad salary in key years to drive up retirement payout ~ that's pretty much a state and municipal trickbag so you'll need to address your comments to those guys, not the federales.

For salary information check out http://www.opm.gov/oca/12tables/html/ex.asp ~ an Executive Level I, the very highest federal salary level, is $199,000 per annum.

That's applicable to Cabinet Secretaries.

You may also wish to consider http://apps.opm.gov/SpecialRates/2012/IndexByOccupations.aspx which goes occupation by occupation.

Now, back to your point which was that you just don't understand how a guy earning $186,000 per year would end up with an $18,600 a year pension? I explained it to you and provided a reference to the system computation. First of all, that guy would need to work 100 years (covered by the FERS system) to get 100% of his high 3 at retirement ~

That means he's going to earn a lot less since he's only been a federal government employee for less than 10 years. if he gets fired now, he can't collect on any of it until he is 62 years of age!

Yes, federal employee retiree benefits just aren't what they're cracked up to be by the uninformed!

Getting back to something no doubt far more important to the federal APPOINTEE (not your average federale) this piece is about, the only way he could end up with a serious retirement package would be if the executioners screwed up and left him only crippled by his own crucifixion!

Then you'd really pay for it. The old disability retirement system left you with 75% of your current salary, untaxed until age 62! The new system is less generous, but not by much.

I suppose he could put his "Nails" on tour with a Leftwingtard "Geek show" and make a few extra bucks on the deal.

No, it is not well documented that the average federal worker is making twice or more than a private sector comparable job.

Yes it is well documented. You must work for government. It's the only explanation for your misguided mindset. I don't think you caught the fact that I know some of these workers personally. Yes they make far more than they would in the private sector and have job security, pension and benefits packages that simply can't be matched in the private sector. The reason these compensation packages don't exist in the private sector is no company that must survive by making a profit can afford to offer them. The government on the other hand can just take more from the taxpayers.

The compensation differential like many things in government is being hidden from the public a wherever possible. The feds and all other levels of government don't want the people to know how they are scamming the taxpayers.

"Getting back to something no doubt far more important to the federal APPOINTEE (not your average federale) this piece is about, the only way he could end up with a serious retirement package would be if the executioners screwed up and left him only crippled by his own crucifixion!"

Yes this guy, who has now resigned by the way, may not receive retirement as an appointee. However, I would wager this guy has been on the public sector payroll for his entire career and will continue after his resignation.

We always say follow the money. Well in this case lets follow the leftist creep and see where he ends up. I can promise you he will end up in another government job that produces absolutely nothing and he will have his taxpayer funded golden parachute.

"I know tens of thousands of current and former federal government employees."

Unless you are military.

My question would be. Why do you know so many democrats? Outside of the military, current and former federal government employees are 95% democrat. The other 5% are liars!

I respect your opinion but there is no way you are going to convince me that federal employees are not excessively overcompensated. They are and any legitimate study cited confirms this. Those that try to dispel this truth are just big government propaganda.

Have you heard about all those federal employees that are just chomping at the bit to get out of that horror and jump into the private sector with a real job? Well those people DON"T EXIST. They aren't about to leave the fantasy world of government employment and get a real job.

Don't get me wrong they aren't bad people. It's just that fully 80% of them are simply not needed and thus every dime they collect from taxpayers is wasted.

Here's one last kicker. Federal employees don't pay a dime in taxes! They can't because they produce no wealth. They consume wealth generated in the private sector. It's impossible for a government employee to pay taxes when the source of every dime of their compensation is from taxing the private sector.

A government employee paying taxes would be like giving your kids a $100 dollar allowance then having them pay the $80 cable bill and thinking you've somehow gained revenue.

I worked at USPS Headquarters. We had about 600,000 employees at the time I retired. There are fewer now due to a fall off of advertising mail ~ and that's due directly to the Great Obama Recession.

You don't really think all those still employed USPS employees who are now taking care of their elderly and their unemployed chillun are going to vote for Obama do you?

As I pointed out your reference was to a study that actually EXCLUDED postal employees from the estimation of average salary levels of federal employees. It also EXCLUDED private sector CEOs. Both factors went a long way to distort the reality.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.